With the Arrival of Spring, Local Zoroastrians Celebrate a New Year

For followers of Zoroastrianism, an ancient Persian faith based on the philosophies of personal responsibility and good conquering evil, spring marks the beginning of the Zoroastrian New Year.

And followers of this faith will be celebrating the new year with the Burr Ridge-based Zoroastrian Association of Metropolitan Chicago at their only temple in the Midwest located at 8615 Meadowbrook Dr.

“It’s a happy time,” says Roshan Rivetna. “It’s like somebody’s birthday. We pray and wish each other well. We get together for a good meal and enjoy each other’s company.”

The Zoroastrian new year is called “Nowruz,” meaning “new day,” says Rivetna. She has lived with her husband, Rohinton Rivetna, in Hinsdale for the past 46 years and was the former editor of the Fezana Journal — the quarterly publication of the Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America (FEZANA).

Nowruz is about good health, happiness and prosperity and sharing the bounties of the earth, she adds. And this Saturday, a big new year’s party will take place, drawing about 150 Zoroastrians from around the Midwest to the Burr Ridge temple, Rivetna says.

The festivities will begin at 7 p.m. with Persian food, entertainment, music and dancing. In addition, a Nowruz parade will also occur on Saturday, beginning at noon in downtown Chicago.

“When you start a new year, you make resolutions; you try to do things you haven’t done before. I wish that everybody stays healthy,” says Burr Ridge resident Kayo Mehta, the past president of the Zoroastrian Center, who has also been on its Board of Directors for the last 30 years, and is the head of religious education there.

There are less than 200,000 Zoroastrians around the world, and approximately 600 Zoroastrians in Illinois and neighboring states, Rivetna says.

“Our religion is one of consequences and responsibility,” husband Rohinton Rivetna says. He was the founding trustee of the Zoroastrian Association and the founding president of the FEZANA. The federation coordinates about 25 Zoroastrian associations across the United States and Canada.

“If we do good, we deserve good rewards. If we do evil, we suffer the consequence,” Rohinton Rivetna adds. Zoroastrians strive to live good, industrious lives, he says. “We are stewards of creation, promoting good in all aspects of life … We have an intense reverence for nature and are sometimes referred to as the first environmentalists.”

“The new year is about rebirth, rejuvenation, a celebration of nature coming alive and people coming together. [It’s] a joyous occasion, and the whole community comes together with prayer festivities,” Rohinton Rivetna says.

To celebrate the new year, local Zoroastrians will visit the Burr Ridge temple to pray, Rivetna says. They clean the house and add fresh paint, dress themselves and their children in new clothes and set a new table in the house with symbolic items. These include a prayer book, which Rivetna emphasizes is very important; wheat sprouts, a hyacinth plant celebrating new life, sugar, milk, candy and special cookies.

“Family gathers and we visit each other’s homes to greet each other. It’s a religious festival and a happy coming of spring festival,” Rivetna says.